A team of European researchers say they have figured out the cause of gray hair and now have a cure for the telltale sign of aging.

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Their report, published online in the Journal of the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology, says that an accumulation of hydrogen peroxide in hair follicles causes hair to "bleach itself from the inside out."

Not surprisingly, the way to stop that from happening — a topical drug treated with UV rays — is "proprietary," and a pricetag was not yet available.

Gray be gone? Soon a topical drug treated with UV rays — which is “proprietary” — may offer a remedy. (Robert Daly/Getty Images)

"For generations, numerous remedies have been concocted to hide gray hair," said Gerald Weissmann, editor-in-chief of the FASEB Journal, in a press release. "But now, for the first time, an actual treatment that gets to the root of the problem has been developed."

Scientists say the remedy also cures vitiligo, depigmentation of the skin.

Researchers said the findings are a potential game-changer.

Gray may become a choice, not an inevitability, if researchers into the cause of color loss are correct. (Johner Images/Getty Images/Johner Images)

"It is beyond any doubt that the sudden loss of the inherited skin and localized hair color can affect those individuals in many fundamental ways," said Karin U. Schallreuter, an author from the Institute for Pigmentary Disorders in Greifswald, Germany.

"The improvement of quality of life after total and even partial successful repigmentation has been documented."